The world of electronic claim management is an ever-changing labyrinth of rules, standards, and charges. Needless to say, when it comes to managing this important aspect of your business, things can get a little dizzying. With different providers wanting different information for the same procedures and innately complex and detailed billing, it's important to have a game plan for managing electronic claim filing.

It is often said "you can't manage what you don't measure", but by making a practical assessment of common challenges in optical claims management, your practice can begin to better stake the claims as they come. With our vast payer and provider networks, VisionWeb is aware of claim management problems and has highlighted a list of common issues.

Do any of these sound familiar to you and your practice?

1. Time Management with ERA

Save yourself daily work hours by manually entering ERA to your practice management system. Why sit for multiple hours and post EOBs? Why not auto-post the payment quickly into your PM and save hours of time. Auto-posting allows you to spend more time on reviewing the Reporting & Analytics tool, work old A/R, or track down patient payments.

2. Rejections, not such a dirty word

If your claims are rejecting, it may not be a bad thing. Often times, cross-training may tackle a simple coding problem or a commonly missed feature in your PM system may be the cause of a great loss of money. Review your most common rejections to learn where subtle changes can be eliminated and increase your reimbursement rate.

3. The Paper Game

Submitting claims on paper requires more manual effort and increases human error. Eliminate these problems and get paid faster. And with the postal service's regular service in question, where is your consistent method of communication with payers? Online.

4. Hiring the Right Biller

Too often we look to cut corners by hiring staff at a lower wage. When considering a new biller for your business, consider how much you want to be paid. By hiring a biller with experience, they can increase your income by bringing in more money each month, coding properly, and understanding the ins-outs of insurance companies. Some practices provide the biller an incentive for achieving certain levels of reimbursement. Let's all make some money!

By being aware of these common pitfalls, your practice can identify tactics that will make electronic claim management as effective as possible. So remember to submit the cleanest claim possible, automate processes where applicable, use a solution that incorporates claims tracking and reporting, and have the right people on staff to get the most out of your claims.